Saturday, December 10, 2016

TALIHINA, Okla. –
Four staff members have resigned from a southeastern Oklahoma veterans facility rather than
face the possibility of getting fired, after a resident was found to
have maggots in a wound.

Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs executive
director Myles Deering said the maggots were discovered while the
patient was alive at the facility in Talihina, about 130 miles southeast
of Tulsa. Deering said the maggots were not the cause of his death.

Deering said the veteran came to the center with an infection and died of sepsis, the Tulsa World reported.

The agency said a physician's assistant and three
nurses, including the director of nursing, resigned after an
investigation was conducted. Spokesman Shane Faulkner said all four
chose to resign before the termination process began.

The incident was reported to the Oklahoma State
Department of Health and the district attorney for LeFlore and Latimer
counties to determine if any charges should be filed.

Raymie Parker identified the late veteran as his father, Owen Reese Peterson. He died Oct. 3 at age 73.

"During the 21 days I was there ... I pled with the
medical staff, the senior medical staff, to increase his meds so his
bandages could be changed," Parker said. "I was met with a stonewall for
much of that time."

Deering said the agency has been considering moving
from the nearly 100-year-old facility, because fixing the existing
building would take millions of dollars. Sen. Frank Simpson said the
facility was also faced with the inability to find and retain staff.

An Illinois attorney is liable for more than $10 million for filing falsified documents with the government concerning 237 defaulted mortgage loans.

Robert S. Luce signed Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) documents stating that no one at his mortgage company – MDR Mortgage Corp – faced criminal conviction, debarment, or a monetary penalty, despite the fact he was indicted in 2005, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reported Monday.

Luce “knowingly made a false claim by certifying that none of the principals of MDR were involved in a proceeding that could result in a criminal conviction,” U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp ruled.

HUD regulations prohibit loan correspondents such as MDR from originating loans if they face such punishments. Luce was able to originate loans through HUD for three additional years by falsifying the documents.

Tharp ruled that Luce owed nearly $3.5 million, but those damages triple under the False Claims Act, bringing the total after tacking on $16,500 in fines, to nearly $10.4 million. Luce plans to appeal the ruling.

He was indicted on charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, obstruction of justice and false statements unrelated to MDR in 2005. Regardless, he annually submitted a form to HUD that stated that no one at MDR faced criminal conviction, debarment, or a monetary penalty from 2006 to 2008.

Luce was ultimately issued a $30,000 fine after admitting to obstructing justice in 2008 and had his law license suspended for five months in 2010 for committing a criminal act.

Psychotropic drugs, including antipsychotics and
antidepressants, can increase the risk of falls among nursing home
residents, a recently published study asserts.

Previous research
has shown a link between psychotropic prescriptions and falls in
nursing home residents, but little was known of how as-needed
prescriptions impacted fall rates. The study, published in the December
issue of JAMDA - The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine
by Dutch researchers, not only backed up earlier research, but found a
relationship between falls and drugs taken on an as-needed basis as
well.

Of the 2,368 nursing home residents in the study, nearly
70% had a prescription for at least one psychotropic drug per day. An
additional 8.8% had an as-needed psychotropic prescription. The study's
authors found that 33.5% of residents had at least one fall, which most
often occurred on days when a psychotropic drug was prescribed on a
scheduled basis.

Residents receiving the drugs on a scheduled basis had a
nearly threefold increase in falls. An increase in fall incidence also
was noted in residents prescribed the drugs on an as-needed basis.
Results of the study also showed that male residents had a fall risk
nearly two times higher than female residents.

Study results showed no link between fall incidence and the
prescription of benzodiazepines, drugs commonly used to treat anxiety
and insomnia, the authors noted.

Friday, December 9, 2016

RICHMOND, TEXAS - A Richmond couple has been charged with keeping seven special needs children locked up in a filthy bedroom of their home for more than a decade.

Paula Sinclair, 54, and Allen Richardson, 78, were arrested Saturday by Fort Bend County deputies. Both are charged with aggravated kidnapping and injury to a child.

The children, ages 13 to 16, are being treated for malnourishment, dehydration, bed bug bites and other issues. Investigators say they were fed only rice and beans twice a day since they were babies. One of the children suffers from Down Syndrome and was wearing a dirty diaper when he was removed from the home.

The children were rescued from the home in the Long Meadow Farm subdivision two days before Thanksgiving. All seven were found locked in a room on the second-story of the large home.

“Smelled of feces and urine. The carpet was being pulled up in some places exposing sharp metal tacks,” said Fort Bend County Detective Julie Johnson.

The children weren't allowed to leave the house, had never been treated by doctors or allowed to go to school, according to Fort Bend County investigators.

If Sinclair left the home, the children were locked in a closet, roughly five feet by eight feet. The closet already had clothes and boxes inside, so space was even smaller, and quite often the adults were gone so long that the children would urinate on themselves, the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office said.

“They were told that if they came out of the room or out of the locked closet, they would be physically abused,” Detective Johnson said. (Click to Continue)

A Boston lawyer allegedly bilked friends, clients, and others out of nearly $250,000 in a series of schemes “fueled by drugs, gambling, and a penchant for the high life,” prosecutors said Tuesday.

Wassem M. Amin, 31, was ordered held on $1 million bail after being indicted on 26 charges, including fraud and larceny. His alleged victims included two young immigrants who had asked for his help starting companies, along with a former girlfriend he had hired.

Over time, the spoils of his deeds included a Mercedes-Benz S-class sedan and a Canal Street penthouse that cost close to $11,000 a month, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.

But Amin was suspended from law practice this year and arrested over the summer. When he found out that one of his victims had lodged a complaint with the state Board of Bar Overseers and Boston Police, Amin sent a threatening text message, prosecutors said.

Elderly individuals move to Florida at a higher rate than
anywhere else. As a result, predatory individuals such as caregivers,
aids, and others prey on the elderly or infirmed. The predatory actions
frequently result in changes to the elderly individual’s estate plan
including procuring lucrative gifts, obtaining deeds to their benefit,
beneficiary designation changes on life insurance policies, transfer or
pay on death accounts, among others.

Scenarios where this type of procurement occurs may be at an assisted
living facility, independent living facility, continuing care facility,
home health aides, long term health care providers, hospitals,
outpatient and other rehab centers.

In the recent decision of ACTS Retirement-Life Communities, Inc. v. Estate of Zimmer,
2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 17715 (Fla. Nov. 30, 2016), an elderly resident
(“Decedent”)—during the waning years of his life—resided at a facility
at an independent and continuing care facility. Decedent continued to
reside there following the death of his wife when he was “befriended” by
multiple employees.

In short order, Decedent gave—among other gifts—at least $30,000 and a
$42,000 Mercedes to one such predatory employee. Based on the Court’s
opinion, it appears that this employee was not the only one on the
receiving end of Decedent’s gratuitous behavior.

Decedent’s son got wind of the lavish gifts his father was doling out
and the employee was terminated from the facility because accepting
gifts from residents was against the facility’s policy.

After
termination, other facility employees would drive Decedent to the
terminated employee’s home where the terminated employee continued to
receive gifts. The terminated employee would even pick up Decedent from
the facility directly.

After Decedent’s death, litigation was commenced against the
terminated employee and the facility by Decedent’s estate. The
terminated employee settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. A
verdict was entered against the independent and continuing care facility
at trial for negligent supervision. On appeal the facility ultimately
escaped liability for negligent supervision because the actions of the
non-terminated employees—such as driving the Decedent to and from the
terminated employee’s home—were not underlying torts themselves.

Notwithstanding the reversal on appeal, predatory employees are
taking advantage of the elderly and infirmed at an alarming rate. Day
in and day out Clark Skatoff receives calls from individuals whose loved
ones are being exploited by their caretakers, like the predatory
employees involved in this case.

Recently Clark Skatoff resolved
an action filed by a deceased individual’s daughter whose father was
exploited by a caretaker who paraded around as the individual’s
girlfriend, procuring lavish gifts and hijacking the individual’s estate
plan.

These cases are not outliers here in Florida like they may be elsewhere.

If your parent, grandparent, or loved one was exploited by a
healthcare provider resulting in the procurement of the gratuities
discussed above, or outright theft, please call the attorneys at Clark
Skatoff for a consultation.

Brian M. Spiro and the attorneys at Clark Skatoff practice in
contested probate, trust, and inheritance disputes throughout Florida.
Mr. Spiro may be reached for a free consultation at (561) 842-4868.

The Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board plans to call
Northampton County's president judge and one of its former president
judges to testify in an upcoming misconduct trial.

A memo filed Dec. 5 lists President Judge Stephen Baratta
and former President Judge F.P. Kimberly McFadden among the 22 witnesses
to be called to testify against former District Judge David Tidd.

The Hellertown area district judge stands accused
of running a "fast food court" where he brokered settlements at his
counter without all parties present. He's accused of using profanity,
bullying employees, throwing tantrums and using his judicial robes as a
pillow while sleeping in his office.

Tidd attorney Samuel C. Stretton maintains Tidd was set up by his spy employees and was subject to illegal wiretaps in his office.

Deputy Court Administrator Debra French said Tidd
specifically asked for audio recording devices when security upgrades
were approved for his office. French is among the witnesses on the trial
list.

Among the more than 100 exhibits on the judicial conduct
board's list are at least four anonymous complaints filed against Tidd.
The complaints themselves have not been made public.

Baratta said Monday he's not sure why he would be called as a
witness. The document posted Dec. 5 says Baratta will be called to
verify allegations of improper demeanor by Tidd and about retaliation
Tidd threatened against his employees.

"This is the first I've heard that there's going to be a
trial," Baratta said Monday. "If they subpoena me to be a witness, I'll
be a witness. No one has contacted me since Judge Tidd's retirement."

French and McFadden didn't immediately respond to messages.

Tidd resigned July 25, less than a year into his second six-year term. The complaint was filed against him Aug. 26.

The witness list includes employees from Tidd's former
office, district court in Lehigh Township, the Northampton County 911
center and for police from Lower Saucon Township, Hellertown and the
Slate Belt Regional Police Department.

What kind of people cheat and financially abuse incapacitated older folks?

Sons, daughters, nieces, nephews and lawyers – people who act as guardians for their relatives and clients.

What can the federal government do about it?

Currently
not much, because elder abuse generally is considered a state and local
problem. But at least the federal government can help with the
important step of defining the problem. The Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) plans to soon launch a data collection program that
will assist experts combating elderly exploitation.

“Unfortunately,
the extent of elder abuse by guardians is relatively unknown to us due
to the limited data that we have available,” Sen. Claire McCaskill
(D-Mo.) said at a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing last week.

The
title of the hearing gets to the point — “Trust Betrayed: Financial
Abuse of Older Americans by Guardians and Others in Power.”

Early next year, HHS will begin the National Adult Maltreatment Reporting System
(NAMRS), which the department describes as “the first comprehensive
national reporting system” for Adult Protective Service (APS) programs.
The data collection will include information from investigations into
the mistreatment of older adults and adults with disabilities. “The
absence of data for research and best practice development has been
cited by numerous entities, including the Government Accountability
Office (GAO), as a significant barrier to improving APS programs,” says
the HHS Administration for Community Living.

Committee Chairwoman
Susan Collins (R-Maine) agrees. “There is no doubt financial abuse
against our seniors is a problem—and a very serious one made even more
difficult by a lack of data that makes it difficult to quantify,” she
told The Washington Post. “But I think this is only the tip of the
iceberg.”

Data collection is key, yet it seems far removed from the day-to-day
suffering of seniors who can’t help themselves. Consider these stories
from hearing testimony:

“An 82-year-old WW II veteran had
suffered two strokes and was confined to a wheelchair and homebound.
After his wife passed away, he needed help so he bought a mobile home
and asked his daughter to move in with him. He also named his daughter
agent under a POA [power of attorney] and added her to the title of the
home and his bank accounts. The daughter systematically isolated her
father and took complete control over his money …” said Jaye Martin, executive director of Maine’s Legal Services for the Elderly.
“When he sought help he believed he had $20,000 in savings, but only
$15 remained in his accounts. Bank records revealed that his daughter
had taken his money for her personal use, opened and charged thousands
on credit cards in his name, and purchased a new car using her POA
authority to add him as a co-signer.”

A niece caring for her
83-year-old aunt in Virginia used the elderly woman’s money for the
younger woman’s personal expenses, “including an $11,645 pickup truck
for a friend and $360 at a sunglasses retailer in Tennessee,” said Kathryn A. Larin, GAO’s forensic audits and investigative service acting director. The niece was ordered to pay more than $32,000 in restitution and sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Citing
another criminal complaint in Virginia, Larin said a legal assistant to
a lawyer acting as a professional guardian stole more than $100,000
from an elder’s bank account to support a drug habit. The lawyer
discovered the thefts, but allowed it to continue because he had a
“personal relationship” with his assistant. After the thefts were
discovered, the lawyer “pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, agreed
to repay the stolen funds, and in 2015 consented to the revocation of
his law license,” according to Larin.

In the past year,
Martin said 48 percent of the elder-abuse cases handled by her
organization involved financial exploitation, “with 75 percent of those
involving family members as the perpetrators. This is consistent with
national research, which found that in 90 percent of reported
elder-abuse cases with a known perpetrator, the perpetrator is a family
member.”

It’s a shame – and too often a crime – when elders can’t trust their kin.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Diane Dimond’s series on court-appointed guardians is horrifying for any
of us who are concerned about protecting our loved ones’ rights and
independence as they get older.

Her series has served as a
reminder that we must strengthen our long-term care system and support
the 40 million people in our country who are family caregivers for
seniors and people with disabilities who need assistance to live as
independently as possible in their homes and communities.

Family
caregivers work hard every day balancing caregiving with their personal
and professional lives. But they need more than our acknowledgment; they
need our support.Every year family caregivers provide $470
billion worth of unpaid care, surpassing our nation’s total Medicaid
funding for both health care and long-term care services.

Families want to provide that care, but they also do it because it is necessary.

Many
people who need care cannot afford to pay for services that would help
them remain independent, but they have just enough money to be
ineligible for Medicaid and the support services it would provide. So
their families fill in the gaps where they can, keeping their family
member out of a high-cost nursing home.

I share that experience as
a caregiver to my mom. I know the value of what family caregivers do,
how they manage their daily responsibilities with the medical,
emotional, physical and financial needs of their loved one. I also know
there aren’t enough of us; we have a critical, growing shortage of
family and paid caregivers in our country.

In 2010, there were
seven potential caregivers for every person older than 80. By 2030 —
when one in five Americans will be 65 or older – that ratio is projected
to drop by almost half, to four to one. In New Mexico, the fastest
growing segment of our population is people older than 65.

We must
make a national investment in long-term care. And we need to grow a
workforce that will help meet the needs of our population.

I have introduced the National Care Corps Act, which is one tool to shore up the system and our caregivers.

The
National Care Corps Act would place trained volunteers in communities
to provide non-medical care that supports family caregivers and those
receiving care.

Creating a national service program is one
strategy for enabling people to live as independently as possible while
also supporting the millions who provide care on their own. This
legislation will also provide volunteers with benefits, including
educational awards, so they can further their careers and spur growth in
a health care workforce that is in dire need of expansion. Through Care
Corps, we will promote volunteerism and supplement the hard work of
paid caregivers.

I can imagine the relief I would feel if someone
visited my mom every day, drove her to medical appointments, read to her
and listened to her stories. That kind of relationship – independent
from the people she pays to perform tasks and the daughter who cares for
her – could be incredibly meaningful for all of us.

I can
envision volunteers gaining insight into the lives of seniors and people
whose lives have been shaped by disabilities. Care Corps would give
people an opportunity to build intergenerational relationships, creating
space for a level of understanding and connection that is rare today.

This
volunteer-caregiving concept is gaining support across the country; a
broad range of organizations focused on the needs of caregivers, seniors
and individuals with disabilities have endorsed Care Corps. More than
50 congressional members are serving on a new bicameral, bipartisan
caucus that I co-founded to raise awareness about the need to support
caregivers, create an environment conducive to reaching bipartisan
solutions and build a sense of urgency to act.

I am eager to work
with my colleagues in the next Congress so we can support our caregivers
who give of themselves to protect and care for their loved ones.

TALLAHASSEE -- The Miami-Dade judge set to face a criminal mischief trial for destroying a pickup truck using
a metal pipe in June escaped prosecution after the charges were dropped.

Victoria Brennan, a
Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge, was not charged for any criminal liability by
the 20th Judicial Circuit. The decision came after the matter was initially
placed in limbo when then Keys state attorney Catherine Vogel removed her
office from the case. Due to her decision to recuse, Florida Gov. Rick Scott
appointed Florida State Attorney Stephen Russell, the chief of the prosecutors in the 20th
Judicial Circuit, to handle the case.

In the explanation she
provided for her recusal, Vogel shared that she had a close relationship with
Brennan in the past. According to the Keys state attorney, she and Brennan had
worked together in the 1990s as Miami Dade County prosecutors. In addition, the
defendant allegedly once dated one of the prosecutors in Vogel’s office.

Records show that no
charges have been officially filed against Brennan. While the Monroe County
deputies signed an arrest warrant against the judge, the pickup truck’s owner,
Victor Garcia of Homestead, was convinced by Daniel Lurvey, the defendant’s
lawyer, to not file charges anymore.

According to the agreement with Garcia,
Brennan then paid for the damages caused to the vehicle.

“After
a thorough investigation, Judge Brennan has been exonerated of any wrongdoing,”
shared Lurvey in a statement via the Florida Keys
News. “She was never arrested or charged and this matter is
concluded.”

As for Garcia, the petitioner
appears to be eager to put the incident behind him.

“It was random. She’s a
judge. She took care of what she did. They paid more – more than what it was
worth. I don’t really want to talk about it," Lurvey
told theMiami Herald.

The
matter started on June 28 when Brennan purportedly found “three drunk males” in her Key
Largo home. They were later identified as the same people partying with her
17-year-old son, police reports state, who had been arrested for a hit-and-run incident and was
detained at a Plantation Key jail.

When she asked the males to vacate the
premises, they allegedly cursed at her and threatened her.

Garcia and his
companions later on claimed that Brennan proceeded to smash the pickup truck
parked outside using a metal pipe.

Despite
the fact that the criminal charges have been dropped, Brennan remains in danger
of facing potential breach of Florida judicial ethics procedure. Since a
warrant had been signed for her arrest or surrender, the rules dictate that the
judge should have properly informed her superiors and the defendants in her
court about the criminal case she was involved with.

“Generally speaking, a judge who has an arrest warrant
out there has no business on the criminal bench. The judge should have asked to
be reassigned so there wasn’t even the appearance of impropriety,” explained Miami
lawyer Michael Catalano.

Around the holidays people tend to be in
the giving spirit, but there are also scammers well aware of such
generosity. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reports that
although fraud targeting seniors happens every day, scammers often
increase their efforts during the holiday season.

Enter Florida State University’s College
of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Researchers, including Dean Thomas
Blomberg, doctoral student Julie Mestre Brancale and George Pesta,
director of the Center for Criminology and Public Policy Research,
recently completed a full report on elder fraud and how to combat it.

“We needed to have better firsthand
knowledge of how extensive the problem of elder financial fraud is in
order to develop needed policies and practices that can effectively
reduce this growing problem,” Blomberg said.

In 2011, the MetLife Market Institute
reported that $2.9 billion was exploited from elderly victims — a 12
percent increase from 2008. The fastest growing segment of the U.S.
population is 65 and older, so the occurrence and impact of elder
financial fraud will likely continue to escalate.

Despite these alarming trends, there was
little research on the facts, prevention and policies related to elder
financial fraud. This lack of information led the College, in
partnership with Merrill Lynch and Seniors vs. Crime, to begin a study
on elder financial fraud in The Villages, one of the largest retirement
communities in the nation.

The team addressed four questions through
their research: One, what are the most common types of financial fraud
perpetrated against the elderly? Two, what role do salient life events,
such as retirement, death of a spouse and declining health have on the
risk of elder financial fraud? Three, what are protective factors
against elder financial exploitation? Four, what are the consequences of
elder fraud victimization?

Combing through diverse data — including
reported incident data, arrest statistics, national surveys, focus
groups and interviews — researchers found that in The Villages between
January 2010 and May 2015, there were 3,735 complaints of elder fraud
victimization, but only 265 arrests. The average age of fraud victims
was 72, and the average lost among the victims was $2,000 per claim.
They also found the most common source of fraud was in home services,
particularly unnecessary repairs.

The researchers also examined other types
of fraud The Villages residents were exposed to, including misleading
sales and advertisements, investment fraud, embezzlement, sweepstakes
scams, fraud by health professionals, identity theft and forgery crimes.
The report also addresses the methods used to exploit elderly victims
and what made them particularly vulnerable to each type of fraud.

Doctoral
student Julie Mestre Brancale presents report recommendation

to senior
residents at Westminster Oaks Retirement Community.

Salient life events, or “turning points,”
such as death or incapacitation of a spouse, a significant health
diagnosis, moving and changing social support networks proved to be the
most common precursors for financial exploitation. As a result of
victimization, residents of The Villages suffered psychological and
emotional distress, impact on their quality of life and health, and
devastating consequences for their financial security.

“I was surprised at how prevalent this
problem is and how deeply affected residents were,” Mestre Brancale
said. “No matter if they lost $50 or they lost $100,000, this
victimization changed their lives and they were drastically impacted.”

Researchers also discovered that
retirement communities provided a false sense of security to residents,
raising the likelihood of exploitation among residents. Further, they
determined that elder fraud is significantly underreported because
victims are embarrassed and/or unaware how to report victimization.

In the report, Blomberg, Mestre Brancale,
and Pesta give recommendations to help reduce vulnerability when it
comes to elder fraud. They note that protective factors, such as
education, skepticism and strong support networks help to reduce
incidents of fraud.

The researchers also recommended
that community service centers providing comprehensive services at a
single location for seniors could help reduce elderly victimization.
Effective services within the community service centers would be
hotlines, list of “endorsed” services, classroom education, media
outreach, “shopping buddy” programs, support groups and referral
services.

Accordingly, community service centers
that provide such services can act as a surrogate family or trusted
friend, educating seniors to avoid exploitation and guiding them through
the recovery process. The research team anticipates the
recommendations, if applied and fostered, will reduce the prevalence of
financial fraud.

“This is just another example of how the
college is working to bring research to life,” Blomberg said.

“Here, the
college’s research provides real insight into problems confronting some
of Florida’s most vulnerable citizens, the elderly, as well as
recommendations for the prevention of elder financial exploitation.”

Researchers said there is more they hope to learn in order to help combat the crime.

“We really want to go out to other
retirement communities and see if what we found in The Villages, we find
in other retirement communities,” Pesta said. “We ultimately want to
pursue an institute for the study of elder fraud and abuse at Florida
State University in the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice.”

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

In a recent series in the Albuquerque Journal, Diane Dimond has painted a
remarkably unfair and distorted portrait of the guardianship
profession, using a few cases out of thousands to make her biased case.
Her case needlessly attacked good people doing good work, and even in
her few examples, she got it completely wrong.

The Journal’s
stories create both the need to respond to the inaccuracies, but also a
chance for the public to understand how the guardianship process in this
state works to the benefit of our most vulnerable citizens.

Guardians
are charged with protecting our most vulnerable citizens. The Journal
stories attempted to make a case that guardians and conservators are
draining the bank accounts of protected people. It’s actually the other
way around.

The guardians and conservators shore up the finances
of the protected people and save their money to allow them to live
decently by making sure they get proper medical care, housing and
nutrition. All too often when conservators are called in the protected
person’s way of life has been threatened, and their money is in danger
of being lost completely.

In a few hundred cases per year, the courts step in to create a
guardian for people who have some very serious conditions, such as
Alzheimer’s disease, Down Syndrome, traumatic brain injuries and
substance abuse problems. In most of these cases, the vulnerable adult
involved needs a guardian to keep them from losing their homes, their
money and their way of life.

In many cases, the family members
cannot take care of the ailing person and the court intervenes in the
best interest of the person. And in some cases, the family members
cannot agree on the right course of action and the court must take over.

The
vulnerable person who needs a guardian then enters into a system of
qualified and dedicated professionals who are devoting their lives to
the help and care of these people. These guardians aren’t getting rich.

The
Journal stories inaccurately portray these hardworking individuals as
taking advantage of the situation. Nothing could be further from the
truth.

These guardians and conservators step in in very difficult
circumstances to protect people suffering from dementia and other
ailments, to maintain their way of life, keep them in their homes if
requested, and maintain finances. This is all done to honor the wishes
of the protected person.

In the case of Blair Darnell, whose
situation was vastly mischaracterized in the Journal story, a
conservator and guardian were called in to protect her assets and ensure
proper medical care so she could live out her life in her home
according to her wishes. The system worked. She lived out her life at
home with her family by her side.

The Journal stories also implied
that the family members of the protected people are then banned from
seeing their parents. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Yes,
there may be a few cases when the courts determine that some family
members pose a danger to the protected person, but that’s rare, and in
almost all cases the family has access and is encouraged to see the
protected person.

The courts go out of their way to ensure that
the family is completely involved, if they wish, in the process and get
to state their case. It is unfortunate that the Journal stories have
damaged the court’s reputation by implying that there is something
unethical going on here.

In short, there is an honorable
profession operating in a lawful and ethical manner. It protects
vulnerable people who are in need of special care. The guardians rescue
people who can be in unimaginably horrible circumstances, and when the
protected person no longer needs a guardian and life is back together,
the guardian steps aside. We operate by a strict code of ethical
standards and the vast majority of our families are very satisfied with
our results.

This recent five-part series failed to accurately
report how the system actually works. This failure is a disservice to
the vulnerable and their families looking for help.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (The Gazette) - A nine-year El Paso County judge has been suspended with pay pending a disciplinary hearing before a state judicial commission.

Judge Jonathan Walker was suspended Nov. 8 by the
Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline, a copy of the commission's
order shows.

Grounds for the suspension weren't disclosed. Rob
McCallum, a Colorado State Judicial Branch spokesman, said he didn't
know the cause, and 4th Judicial District Administrator Danny Davis
couldn't be reached for comment.

A phone message left on the commission's voice mail wasn't returned.

Walker, who previously practiced as a deputy
state public defender and as a private defense attorney, was appointed
to the county bench in 2007. He served with the Army Special Forces in
Southeast Asia "in the Vietnam era," according to his biography on the
state judicial branch website.

In April 2015, Carrie Tice was despairing over
her 80-year-old mother’s advancing Alzheimer’s when a caregiver at her
senior center in California recommended giving her a topical dose of
marijuana. Many other drugs had failed, but the marijuana made her feel
better immediately. She was more alert, more active and looked younger.
By October last year, she had moved out of the senior center, and this
year she moved in with her daughter in Mill Valley.

“The change in my mom was so remarkable that I
wanted to shout it from the mountaintops,” Tice said. “She seemed 10
years younger after 20 minutes, and was happy.”

The experience inspired Tice to quit her job of
20 years at video game software maker Ubisoft and found a company that
would supply marijuana to seniors, helping them navigate the state’s
intimidating medical marijuana system. Since April 2015, Octavia, as the company was first called, has
helped older seniors get doctor recommendations online and order weed
products to ease their pain and help them sleep.

The service is needed because seniors often
aren’t familiar with the many varieties of weed that can be used. Pot is
for sale in many forms: flowers, edibles, oils, vaporizers,
concentrates, tinctures, sprays, ointments, and more. “One time mom told
me she preferred a tincture because it didn’t burn her eyes and I
freaked out! She was supposed to put the stuff on her tongue!” Tice
said.

In 2016, the company merged with a marijuana sales party company called Viva to form Octavia Wellness.
The merged company in July began a pilot program at four elder care
facilities in the Bay Area, holding gatherings to help residents with
their weed needs. In one facility that Octavia Wellness serves, a secret
cannabis club with 10 members had clandestinely smoked joints out on
the adjoining golf course at night. Now, gatherings are officially
sanctioned and standing-room-only, with 190 residents in attendance. The
company also has clients from centers that allow brochures but not
meetings. Next year it will sell products packaged especially for the
elderly, with large type and extra instructions.

The weed needs of the elderly are unique, Tice
said. “There are some old rockers at a senior center in Mill Valley who
like to get high and buy pre-rolled joints. But most want pain relief,
to sleep better and stop fretting. They’re on opiates, constipated, and can’t function on their pills, so once they discover marijuana helps them, stigma’s not an issue.”

Octavia raised $300,000 from investors in this
year’s second quarter, and has had 10% weekly sales growth since then.
It aims to raise $1 million by the first quarter of next year; so far,
$300,000 has been committed. Approval last month of California’s Proposition 64, legalizing recreational marijuana, is spurring interest from more investors.

Revenue from California’s cannabis industry is projected to grow to $6.5 billion by 2020 from $2.8 billion in 2015, the Cannabist reports. The national market is projected to generate $20 billion in sales by 2020 according to market research commissioned by Arcview Group, a marijuana industry incubator. According to another market research report, by analysts from Cowen & Co., the national cannabis industry could reach $50 billion by 2026.

Octavia Wellness, with its niche clientele, may thrive.
Now it’s still a startup, and Tice says she’s working 80-hour weeks.
“Do I miss steady paychecks,” she asks rhetorically. “Sure. But I love
working with seniors, more than anything I’ve ever done. This is the
least-served community, and it has the greatest need for cannabis.”

Monday, December 5, 2016

Editor’s note: The Journal published a
five-part investigative report from Sunday, Nov. 27, through Thursday,
Dec. 1, about the problems and heartache in the state’s elder
Guardianship system: Who Guards the Guardians?

Today, some possible solutions.

It won’t be easy to overcome budget challenges and
opposition from entrenched interests. Earlier efforts have failed. But
judges, lawyers, aggrieved family members and others agree there are
ways to fix some of the flaws in New Mexico’s guardianship system as
outlined in a five-part Albuquerque Journal series.

Here
are some of their suggestions to cure an ailing system that can make
inheritances disappear, fracture families and take away the elder
person’s dignity and freedom.

• Curb excessive secrecy –
except for medical information protected by federal law. Time and time
again, people critical of the system say transparency would be the best
deterrent. Responding to the Journal series, retired District Judge Anne
Kass of Albuquerque told the Journal she believes, “We need to have a
really profound conversation between privacy and secrecy and develop a
better way of measuring it … (deciding) when it’s OK and when it isn’t.”

•
Give aggrieved family members a meaningful forum to air their
complaints – a forum that can hold accountable the paid professionals in
the guardianship industry.

• Family members should be
involved, not shut out of the ward’s life. Instead of labeling family
members as “in conflict” or “upsetting” to the elder and curbing their
visits, guardians and conservators should include them in the elder’s
everyday decisions. Rep. Conrad James, R-Albuquerque, says the process
of “isolating the senior is the first step of abuse in these cases.”

•
Elevate the evidentiary requirement for an elder to be declared
incapacitated and make sure all family members are heard. Require the
elderly person to actually appear in court and be questioned by the
judge unless it is physically impossible.

• Require
specific training and issue state licenses for guardians and
conservators. New Mexico has more licensing requirements on the books
for hairdressers and landscapers – because there are none for guardians
and conservators. If a court appointee is going to manage cases with
complex medical or financial issues, they should show they are qualified
in those fields.

• The Legislature needs to recognize
the problem and approve additional court funding. Judges need sufficient
resources to monitor the growing number of guardianship cases. As
described in the Journal series, the program currently runs on the
“honor system” with little or no auditing or oversight of how appointees
spend the ward’s money. ...

Sunshine

Unlike
those of most states, New Mexico’s guardianship system is steeped in
secrecy. Courts here routinely sequester proceedings, citing vaguely
written sections of the state’s Uniform Probate Code, and order all
participants to remain mum about the case to protect the privacy of the
elder person. Critics say this lack of transparency quashes legitimate
concerns and allows judges and attorneys to ignore both family members
and important legal documents prepared by the elder, such as wills,
estate plans and powers of attorney.

One Albuquerque lawyer who is representing a family in a guardianship drove the point home.

“There
are bad things happening. Even if they’re legal, they are bad things,”
he said. “The societal cost of this secrecy is too damn high.”

Marcia Southwick of Santa Fe established the popular Facebook page Boomers Against Elder Abuse a few years ago, and it now boasts more than 150,000 members. As one of three directors of the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse, she suggests a strong state disciplinary board where family complaints are taken seriously and published for all to see. Only when the secrecy of the system is lifted, she said, can citizens know if there are multiple complaints against a court appointee and disciplinary action or criminal charges can be pursued.

Retired Judge Kass says that when she read some of the comments from guardian
system insiders quoted during the Journal series, “What popped into my
head was: the code of silence and how inbred this thing is with the
people who work in it.” She added, “From my perspective, self-regulation
doesn’t work, has never worked and can never work.” (Click to Continue)

He
read the Journal’s five-part investigative series on problems within
the state’s elder guardian system and observed that of the cases cited,
there are “probably many, many dozens (more) that could explode at any
time in this state and it’s because we are faking it. We pretend like we
have a guardian system and there’s nothing in place.”

Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque

It’s not for lack of trying, Ortiz y Pino told the Journal.

He
recalls several times over the past decade that he and his colleagues
have tried to propose legislative patches to the fraying system. They’ve
tried to appropriate money to study ways to strengthen the system, to
provide more oversight on how court appointees spend their elderly
ward’s money, to set rules on visitation for children of wards when
there is a dispute. Every time, Ortiz y Pino said, opponents of change
win.

The senator put it bluntly: “Anytime we got into guardianship
issues the attorneys who deal with probate in the state went
ballistic.”

The biggest problem with the system? “I think you
alluded to it in your articles,” he said. “It’s an honor system and
there’s nobody checking.”

The senator, a social worker by
occupation, believes the situation will get worse in the years ahead as
the baby boomer generation ages.

“The problem is nobody is in charge,” he said. “So, there’s nobody to
come before the Legislature to request a budget increase, nobody to say
we need to improve regulations governing this. There’s nobody to set
standards for the guardians (or) to hear complaints from the families.”

Ortiz
y Pino believes there should be state certification and licensing of
guardians and conservators but wonders where the money will come from.
Likewise, his idea to set up special elder courts to exclusively hear
guardianship and elder-issue cases would also need funding.

Because that money can only be approved by state lawmakers, the ball is in their court.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

A Cook County judge accused of urging
and allowing a now-fired law clerk to preside over cases from the bench as if
she were a judge has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and is no longer
fit to continue as a judge, a state judicial discipline board has reported.

On Friday, Dec. 2, the Illinois
Judicial Inquiry Board filed a complaint with the Illinois Courts Commission
against Cook County Circuit Judge Valarie E. Turner, alleging she was “mentally
unable to perform her duties.”

The Inquiry Board asked the Illinois
Courts Commission to ratify those findings, and ultimately effectively remove
her from her post within the Cook County court system.

The JIB complaint did not elaborate on
Turner’s purported diagnosis, including when doctors may have diagnosed her
with the illness, or when judicial authorities became aware of the diagnosis,
saying only Turner had been diagnosed “recently.”

The complaint comes as the latest
disciplinary action after Turner was removed from hearing cases in August by
the Cook County Circuit Court’s Executive Committee, which included Cook County
Chief Judge Timothy Evans and the judges supervising the circuit’s various
divisions and courthouses, after allegations first surfaced accusing her of
allowing then-circuit court law clerk Rhonda Crawford to preside over traffic
cases during an afternoon court call at the county’s courthouse in suburban
Markham.

In March, Crawford, who had worked at the Markham
courthouse, had secured the Democratic nomination for a judgeship in the county’s
First Judicial Subcircuit. She had won despite receiving a grade of “Not
Qualified” from the Illinois State Bar Association, as part of that
organization’s work of evaluating judicial candidates.

No Republican or independent candidate had filed to
seek the judicial post, leaving Crawford to run unopposed.

However, in August, Judge Marjorie Laws, who
presides over the Markham courthouse, purportedly notified her superiors of a
substantiated complaint first brought by a municipal prosecutor, who complained
of the conduct of Turner and Crawford during the Aug. 16 court call to hear
traffic ticket cases.

Evans then fired Crawford, and reassigned Turner,
pending the outcome of the investigation into the incident.

The Illinois Supreme Court, acting at the request of
the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, suspended
Crawford’s law license and barred her from taking the bench, pending the
outcome of the formal investigation into the matter.

Crawford received enough votes during the November
general election to win a seat on the county bench. However, a write-in
candidate who opposed her, appointed Judge Maryam Ahmad, has asked a Cook
County court to invalidate those election results, arguing Crawford was not a
lawful candidate at the time of the election after the Supreme Court suspended
her license and prohibited her from taking the judicial oath. That case remains
pending.

No further action had been taken against Turner,
until the Judicial Inquiry Board released its complaint Dec. 2, publicly revealing
Turner’s health diagnosis for the first time.

Turner had been first elected to the Cook County
bench in 2002, and was first admitted to the state bar to practice law in 1991.
She was twice retained by voters in the county’s Second Judicial Subcircuit in
2008 and 2014.

In an evaluation posted in 2008, the Chicago Council
of Lawyers rated her “not qualified,” saying lawyers were mixed in their review
of Turner’s work.

“Some lawyers appearing before her find her to be well-versed in
the relevant law, impartial, and fair. Others question her grasp of the law or
her confidence in her own understanding of points of law,” the evaluation said.
“She is generally well-prepared for hearings, though some lawyers question her
diligence, believing that she under-schedules her calendar. Judge Turner’s
temperament is strongly criticized by some lawyers, who report that she becomes
too easily frustrated with attorneys and litigants and sometimes reprimands or
chastises them in ways that may be inappropriate.”

According to public records, Turner
earned a salary of $188,000 per year.

A common
shortcoming of powers of attorney is that Connecticut had no requirement
for third parties (for example, financial institutions) to honor them.
This is a serious issue because powers of attorney are frequently
created to allow the person to whom the power of attorney is granted
(called the agent) to manage accounts in financial institutions on
behalf of the account owner (called the principal), particularly when
the principal becomes incapacitated.

Some financial
institutions would refuse to recognize valid powers of attorney unless
they were drafted on the financial institution’s own POA form.
Frequently, these “forms” amounted to nothing more than an indemnity of
the financial institution for following the POA. This approach by
certain financial institutions effectively thwarted a valid POA when it
was needed most - when the principal became incapacitated. In those
cases, families often had to institute conservatorship proceedings in
the probate court.

With the 2007 revision of the conservatorship
laws, conservatorship proceedings in Connecticut probate courts have
become complex, time-consuming, and expensive.

The new Connecticut Uniform Power of Attorney Act
addresses this issue by instituting penalties for third parties that
refuse to recognize valid powers of attorney. It also provides third
parties with options that address concerns they may have about the
validity of a power of attorney.

The new law provides that if the power of
attorney is acknowledged by a notary public or attorney, it’s presumed
to be valid, and a third party may rely on it.

There are protections in the new law for third parties asked to honor or rely upon a power of attorney.

For example, a third party may request that the
agent answer certain questions it may have about the agent, the
principal, or the power of attorney document. The third party may also
request an affidavit stating that the power of attorney is in full
effect and has not been revoked.

A third party may request an opinion of counsel as to any matters of law, but must state the reason for the request.

These requests must be in writing and made within
seven days of when the power of attorney is presented to the third
party. This minimizes opportunities for the third party to delay
honoring a valid power of attorney under the premise of requesting
additional information.

The principal is responsible for expenses of
complying with these requests. Beyond the seven-day period in the new
law, the cost of complying with such requests may be the responsibility
of the third party.

There are also six “safe harbors” defining
circumstances under which it is permissible for a third party to refuse
to honor a power of attorney.

If a third party refuses to accept or honor an
acknowledged power of attorney, without falling under the safe harbor
provisions, it will be subject to an order by a court mandating
acceptance of the power of attorney.

Regular Natural Health Insiders readers know that exercise
isn’t just key to a trim, healthy body, but to a healthy brain as well.
Now, new studies show exercise may be dramatically more important than previously thought…

According to a 2016 study published in Neurology, older
folks who didn’t exercise or only lightly exercised experienced
cognitive decline at a much faster rate. Their cognitive abilities were
effectively ten years older than those who exercised moderately or
intensively.1

Does this mean you need to start doing one of those insane workouts we see on TV to protect your brain? Not at all.

I’ve pulled together ten of the highest leverage exercises, lifestyle
changes and activities that can turn your cognitive clock back ten
years or – to try on another metaphor – subtract a hundred thousand
miles off your brain’s “odometer” — no matter what your previous
exercise habits have been.

When I say “highest leverage” I mean they give you highest return for the effort you put in.

And by the way, only the first four are exercise-related.

Start with a couple that look approachable, and gradually add more to your routine as you feel comfortable. Taking just one of these steps can change your life.

Exercising for Ultimate Brain Health

1. Do a 5-minute warm-up first.
Here’s a “triple threat” warm-up: I recommend doing a few basic yoga flows before you exercise to get your whole body warm.

A flow is something you can do “cold,” without pulling muscles or causing injury—and you can adapt it to your level of fitness.

Plus, you get the mind and hormonal benefits of doing five minutes of
meditation, too. One study showed that 50-year-old meditators had the
gray matter of a 25-year-old.2

If you don’t know a thing about yoga, classes are just about
ubiquitous these days. All you’re trying to do is learn four or five
simple, basic yoga postures. A couple of hours of instruction should be
enough to get you going, then you can do them at home.

Or maybe you’ll have so much fun, you’ll want to continue with the class!

As with almost everything, you can run into an instructor who wants
to push you too hard or classmates who want to turn it into a
competition. Don’t let yourself get rolled. Get what you need from the
instructor, or bail out and find someone more congenial.

2. Bodyweight squats and lunges.
Interestingly enough, leg strength is one of the most telling factors
in cognitive health, especially in women. Twin studies have
demonstrated that leg strength is significantly related to gray matter
volume and future cognitive change.3

And you don’t need fancy gym equipment to do it — sets of “air”
squats and bodyweight lunges can kick your quad and hamstring strength
up a notch; besides that, this step and step 3 are great for cardio
health.

3. Walking, bike-riding, jogging.
A brisk walk, jog, or bike ride is one of the best things you can do.
Also consider taking a dance class – square dance, ballroom, whatever
strikes your fancy. One 65-year-old friend of mine took hip-hop classes.

Not only will this help develop leg strength, but animal studies
showed that the longer a rat ran at a moderate pace, the more
neurogenesis (generation of new brain cells) it experienced, compared to
high intensity intervals and weight lifting.4

4. Weight training.
Not just for bodybuilders anymore, weight training — especially in
the legs — is a great way to build muscle, stability, and endurance.

Hamstring curls, extensions, and leg press are great for beginners —
and these exercises can make an immediate difference in your brain
activity. This will probably involve joining a health club, and the
social aspect of that is also good for brain health.

A study published in Acta Psychologica showed those who
performed leg extensions at their maximum effort increased their levels
of norepinephrine (an important neurotransmitter) and had ten percent
better short-term memory recall than did passive participants.5

Plus, another study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society showed
that women who weight-trained just twice per week for a year showed
significantly less brain shrinkage and slower growth of age-related
white matter brain lesions than did women who lifted once per week or
who only focused on balance and stability exercises.6

And ladies, don’t be afraid of increasing your weights as you get stronger — you won’t turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Eat Healthy for a Sharp Mind

5. Healthy eating patterns.
Let’s avoid the word “diet” here and talk about what you should
aim for – healthy habits you can do every day for the rest of your
life, NOT temporary fixes that you practice for a while before returning
to your old, bad habits.

A healthy eating pattern avoids inflammatory foods — especially
processed and high-glycemic foods. The latter include not only sugar but
also rice, potatoes and all wheat products. In general, you can eat
just about as much protein and fat as you want, and you should eat as
few carbs as you can. That’s oversimplying, but that’s the basic
principle.

Three supplements I consider essential are krill oil (omega 3s), turmeric, and a multivitamin / mineral.

6. Challenge your mind often.
Crossword puzzles and word games are great, but try more complex
challenges as well. Change your routine. Take a different path on your
walk. Do something backwards, like repeating the alphabet or counting
backwards from 100 by 7s. It’s tricky, but a low effort way to put your
brain to work.

Use your left hand to do things you’d normally do with your right (or
vice versa, if you’re naturally left-handed). It makes you think and gets a conversation going between your brain, your body, and the rest of the world.

7. Learn a new hobby, craft or skill.
Pick something you’ve always wanted to learn and stick with it.
Playing a musical instrument, speaking a foreign language or cooking a
new recipe creates new pathways and connections in the brain.7

Consider a hobby like quilting, painting, drawing, even playing bridge or poker. You don’t have to be good at it. Do it for fun.

Turn off the TV and read a book.

8. Watch your alcohol intake.
If you drink, make sure you’re not overindulging on a regular basis.
Studies show 1.3 ounces of alcohol is the line between healthy and
overindulging. That refers to the alcohol content of your drink, not to
the total volume of the drink.8

9. Sleep.
If you don’t get enough sleep, your hippocampus begins to work
overtime… making mistakes, encoding new information improperly, and
causing your emotions to go out of whack.

Consistent poor quality sleep – often caused by sleep apnea – is now
known to be one of the main causes of dementia. If you don’t sleep well,
find out if there’s a medical problem and if there is, get it fixed.

For garden variety sleep problems, exercise can help you sleep
better, along with avoiding caffeine in the afternoon and alcohol before
bed.9

Make sure you sleep in a totally darkened room – no glowing red or
green lights from electronic devices. If you have to wear an eye mask to
get rid of the light, do it.

10. Stay social.
Make new friends, go new places and try new things. There’s no reason
that getting older should keep you from the many pleasures this world
has to offer.10

The number of social contacts a person has is one of the most
powerful predictors of whether he or she will get dementia. If you don’t
currently have a lot of friends or nearby family, then join clubs,
become active in a church, volunteer for a charity, take a class.

You’ll meet lots of wonderful new friends and the mental stimulation
is worth more than all the “memory drugs” in the world. (Admittedly,
that’s not setting the bar very high since the pharmaceutical memory
drugs like Namenda and Aricept are nearly useless.)

Now more than ever, you have the power to take control of your brain health.

Whether it’s simply getting up and moving, learning to weight-train,
or taking an afternoon nap, these high-leverage activities can make a
huge difference on the “age” of your brain.

Follow NASGA's Facebook Page

Twitter Updates

Twitter Updates

Follow NASGA on Linked-in

Google+ Followers

Help Support NASGA!

Another great way to donate to NASGA is by doing your online shopping with Goodshop!
They will donate up to 20% of your purchases back to us and offer great savings at places like Neiman Marcus, Adidas, and Sundance Catalog.
So, you can save money and help us stop guardian abuse too!

Follow by Email

NASGA supports

Disclaimer

Victim stories are written and submitted by individual victims. NASGA has no knowledge or responsibility as to the accuracy or validity of their statements. Use of any such story or information contained therein in any manner is not authorized without prior written consent from NASGA or the individual author.

Comments on this site are moderated. NASGA reserves the right to accept, reject or delete any comments posted. Comments are the sole responsibility of the sender.

This site contains links to web sites controlled or offered by third parties (non-affiliates of NASGA).

NASGA hereby disclaims liability for any information, material, products, services, or any other, posted or offered at any of the third-party sites. By creating a link to a third-party site, NASGA does not endorse or recommend any products or services offered. NASGA further disclaims liability for the content, security, validity or accuracy contained in said third-party sites.

NASGA Followers

NASGA

NASGA (National Association to STOP Guardian Abuse, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) public-interest, civil rights organization formed by victims of unlawful and abusive guardianships and conservatorships. We seek legislative reform of existing law and upgrading of criminal penalties for court-appointed fiduciaries misusing protective proceedings for unjust enrichment and engaging in elder and family abuse.

Our mission is to promote the safety and well being of vulnerable persons subject to injury and damage in their person and property through unlawful and abusive guardianship and/or conservatorship proceedings; to end the growing violations of due process, civil and human rights; to work towards ultimate legislative reform of guardianship as presently practiced; upgrading of criminal penalties for court-appointed fiduciaries misusing protective proceedings for unjust enrichment; and to be a support organization for victims and their families. We carry out our mission through research, outreach, education and advocacy; and going forward, by alliance with community interest, law reform, civil rights and other advocacy organizations.

Any copyrighted material included herein is distributed in accordance with the Fair Use section of 17 U.S.C. 107, in the interest of public research and education, without profit.

NASGA claims no credit for any images posted on this site. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it to appear here, please E-mail at Info@StopGuardianAbuse.org with a link to the image and we will promptly remove it.

Comments and opinions posted to our Blog are our readers - not NASGA. We do not censor comments, and we welcome opposing views. We do reserve the right, however, to delete any submitted comment which contains foul or obscene language.

Please visit our website by clicking the link below for more information on how you can help stop guardianship / conservatorship abuse.